Mindfulness Experiences: Close Your Eyes For This One!
See: ocean waves and sand
Smell: salty air
Touch: sand beneath your feet
Hear: seagulls and waves crashing
Taste: ice cold drink and picnic food
What is the beach?
Exercises you use to calm your body by controlling your breath.
Hint: Examples are Square Breathing or Five Finger Breathing
What are Deep Breathing Exercises?
A controlled breathing routine that helps you relax, be present, good for your lungs, and reduces spasticity.
What are deep breathing exercises?
Song 1
What is You Really Got Me by The Kinks?
'60s
Song 1
Don’t Stop Believin’ x Journey
'80s
See: trees and rocks
Smell: fresh air and pine trees
Touch: cool breeze on your face and burn from working your muscles
Hear: birds chirping and streams running
Taste: ice cold water
What is hiking a mountain?
An exercise where you tighten muscles and relax them while controlling your breathing
What is progressive muscle relaxation?
A type of exercise and relaxation technique where you coordinate your breath with your movements and stretching.
What is yoga or adapted/chair yoga?
Song 2
Build Me Up Buttercup x The Temptations
'60s
Song 2
Sweet Child O’ Mine x Guns N Roses
'80s
See: strangers and friends working out
Smell: workout equipment and sweat
Touch: feel the burn of working your muscles and the cool touch of metal equipment
Hear: clanging of metal weights
Taste: protein bar
What is the gym?
A relaxation technique where you let your mind take you to a different place and think about the different, smells, sights, feelings, and sounds you would experience there.
Hint: Saebo Recordings
What is Mental Imagery?
A breathing routine where you breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, and breathe out for 4 seconds and you complete this 4 times.
What is square breathing?
Song 3
I Got You Babe x Sonny and Cher
'60s
Song 3
Modern Love x David Bowie
'80s
See: Your best friend/child/spouse
Smell: Your favorite food
Touch: Cloth napkins, a warm plate, glossy menu cover
Hear: Clanging of dishes, good conversation, food being made over the kitchen line
Taste: Sweet/savory, your favorite food, warm food
What is eating dinner at a restaurant?
When you take your thoughts and change them to be positive or try to think about them from a different perspective.
What is reframing/positive thinking/positive self-talk?
A breathing routine where you breathe in as you trace up your fingers, and breathe out as you trace down your fingers.
What is Five Finger Breathing?
Song 4
Dancing Queen x Abba
'70s
Song 4
I Will Always Love You x Whitney Houston
'90s
See: ocean waves crashing over each other, motorboats and buoys
Smell: seawater, salty air, fish
Touch: chilly seawater, cool metal of the tiller
Hear: sound of going over waves, boat engines around you, seagulls, good conversation of friends/family
Taste: fish, good sandwiches, salty air
What is going for a fun boat ride?
When you use your 5 senses to experience your surroundings and think about what you smell, hear, taste, touch, and see in this moment.
Hint: We did an exercise where we had to fill out the alphabet of things we sensed, the ________ ABCs.
What are Mindfulness Exercises?
Mindfulness ABCs
5 Sense Scavenger Hunt
A breathing exercise where you breathe deep into your belly and then breathe out.
What is diaphragmatic breathing?
Song 5
Dancing in the Moonlight x King Harvest
'70s
Song 5
Smells Like Teen Spirit x Nirvana
'90s